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Rush's "starman"

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The symbol is supposed to represent man resisting tyranny. The star (which is red in color versions) was the symbol of the bad guys on the album 2112. The man recoiling against it portrayed the hero from that album. (It always seemed to me that a red star as a symbol of oppression almost certainly referred to the Soviets. But that's just my opinion.)

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The symbol is supposed to represent man resisting tyranny. The star (which is red in color versions) was the symbol of the bad guys on the album 2112. The man recoiling against it portrayed the hero from that album. (It always seemed to me that a red star as a symbol of oppression almost certainly referred to the Soviets. But that's just my opinion.)

Thanks! I was a bit suspicious of the symbol at first...where did you find that out?

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The Man is the Hero from 2112, which is, essentially, a regurgitated version of Anthem (which is another great Rush song)

I also, believe that it is the same man, standing on the brains on the cover of "Hemispheres"

I Love Rush album art.

Edited by Styles2112
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  • 4 weeks later...
The Man is the Hero from 2112, which is, essentially, a regurgitated version of Anthem (which is another great Rush song)

I also, believe that it is the same man, standing on the brains on the cover of "Hemispheres" 

I Love Rush album art.

Yes that is also the man from Hemispheres... I would say you're correct, that he represents "resistance against tyranny", at least in the context of the Star & Man logo.

But -- just to make sure the Rush references are 100% correct :) -- I wanted to add that in the context of Hemispheres he represents the libido (the "Dionysus" section of the lyric), whereas the suit-and-tie man represents the rational, logical side of us (the "Apollo" section of the lyric). And of course the struggle between those two sides of our mind (and therefore many of the conflicting desires we encounter throughout life) is the entire premise behind Hemispheres....

AFAIK, Rush did not come up with that Star/Man logo until some time after Hemispheres (if I'm wrong on that feel free to correct me!), so I'm not really sure who/what they had in mind in regards to the Hero from 2112.

Lastly (just an FYI), the link to that image is from my old ISP and apparently they're offline. At least every time I try to connect I get "CONNECTION REFUSED FROM INTAC.COM". Same image, new location: http://rush.robpagano.com/images/webring.jpg B)

(You can find more Rush info at http://rush.robpagano.com)

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AFAIK, Rush did not come up with that Star/Man logo until some time after Hemispheres (if I'm wrong on that feel free to correct me!), so I'm not really sure who/what they had in mind in regards to the Hero from 2112.

What? 2112 Came out in 76 and Hemishperes came out in 78. The Starman logo had been around for a couple years prior to Hemishperes.

Edited by Styles2112
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I am a HUGE Rush fan. It is weird, however, how they place the song "Passage to Bangkok" right after "2112". 2112 espouses Reason while Passage to Bangkok is just about looking for the best weed to get stoned off of.

And isn't it ironic, don't ya think?

Well.........that doesn't sound too different from the mental battle between "Reason" and "Pleasure" (i.e. Love) depicted in Hemispheres! ;-)

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What?  2112 Came out in 76 and Hemishperes came out in 78.  The Starman logo had been around for a couple years prior to Hemishperes.

A-ha, I stand corrected!!! I'm glad you caught me on that -- now I did my research and sure enough, he was on the back cover of 2112.

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/Wallpaper1.htm

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/wallpaper/2112back.jpg

The problem is, my cd doesn't have that on the back! It just has the track list, not the original album art....so that's why I didn't know he was on there (until now). Well if I was never wrong, then I'd never have the chance to learn anything new! So thanks for calling that to my attention! :P

And he definitely does stand for the "man against the masses". Not sure if anyone posted these quotes yet:

"All [the naked man] means is the abstract man against the masses. The red star symbolizes any collectivist mentality." - Neil Peart, Creem, 1982

"The man is the hero of the story. That he is nude is just a classic tradition ... the pureness of his person and creativity without the trappings of other elements such as clothing. The red star is the evil red star of the Federation, which was one of Neil's symbols. We basically based that cover around the red star and that hero." - Hugh Syme, "From Brainwaves to Tidal Waves: The Story Behind Rush's Album Covers", Creem, 1983

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Another thing about the "Starman". People often refer to the figure (having no real knowledge on the subject) as a pentagram, therefore accusing of Rush as satanic. I find it funny because he even claims "I don't believe in the old dirty bastard". I'm sure I misquoted but the Power Windows site is down for me. :)

I am new to the forums here, and I am a huge Rush fan.

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  • 4 months later...

The star isn't a pentagram which is favored by satanists. The pentagram has to be inverted so that two "horns" are at the top with the "scruff" or single point is at the bottom. The star as Rush depicts it is actually a pentacle. Though the differences in the words are small, they do have a vast difference in meaning.

The star as it is presented is actually the Star of Solomon. Solomon having five points and David having six. The modern new age and witchcraft movements coopted it into their use. It traditionally represented protection. That is why the satanists inverted it just like a cross. Heck, even Morrocco uses it in their flag. It's a common symbol in different parts of the world. In the old days it used to be more common than today thanks to the cooption of the symbol like the swastika.

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  • 5 months later...
AFAIK, Rush did not come up with that Star/Man logo until some time after Hemispheres (if I'm wrong on that feel free to correct me!), so I'm not really sure who/what they had in mind in regards to the Hero from 2112.

hemispheres came out in october 1978 by that time they already had 2 albums out with starman on it (all the worlds a stage 1976 and archives april 1978)

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  • 3 months later...
I am a HUGE Rush fan. It is weird, however, how they place the song "Passage to Bangkok" right after "2112". 2112 espouses Reason while Passage to Bangkok is just about looking for the best weed to get stoned off of.

And isn't it ironic, don't ya think?

Sorry for being part of a revival of a year-old thread, but I just wanted to say in response to the quote above above - I was also bothered by that, until I decided the train in Bangkok which goes around the world could be symbolic of the transcontinental train in Atlas Shrugged.

Maybe this is wishful thinking, but after a song like 2112, why not? I don't have the album, but I know Rush mentioned Rand as an inspiration on the album cover of 2112 .

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

I did always wonder about that, but I wasn't bothered by it. I enjoy the song for the music and exotic imagery conjured up by the lyrics, not the fact that it's about being a globetrotter in search of "good smoke."

I was a diehard fan of theirs for a while until my tastes drifted away from prog rock and towards roots, garage and alternative rock. I was quite intrigued by their recent Feedback EP, although I could have done without the Stephen Stills/Buffalo Springfield covers. I've always had a disdain for sappy, collectivist hippie music!

T.

Sorry for being part of a revival of a year-old thread, but I just wanted to say in response to the quote above above - I was also bothered by that, until I decided the train in Bangkok which goes around the world could be symbolic of the transcontinental train in Atlas Shrugged.

Maybe this is wishful thinking, but after a song like 2112, why not? I don't have the album, but I know Rush mentioned Rand as an inspiration on the album cover of 2112 .

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"A Passage to Bankok" was not designed, orginally, to come after "2112". On my copy (which is a Long Playing disk), Side "A" is 2112, and side "B" is all the other songs. In order to listen to "A Passage to Bankok" (or anything else), most people would have to flip the disk over and put the needle on the disk, and the songs don't play straight through. I don't know how long the gap is between "2112" and "A Passage to Bankok" on a CD, or how it feels to hear that song to be played right after "2112".

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  • 3 weeks later...

I think Bangkok serves Peart's views a little more, the best of both worlds is how he would probably put it. You have your "Apollo" track and then after you have your "Dionysus" track. You could also look at it as "ok, I just listened to a really serious song, now I need to give my head a rest and listen to a song about something stupid, like weed". It could have also been a lyric exercise "I can write an epic about Individualism and I can write a song about pot. I will also say, out of the thousands of rock songs (mostly in the 60's and 70's) "A Passage to Bangkok" is definantly the best song, musically and lyrically, about pot.

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  • 10 months later...
For you Rush fans out there...

What is the significance of the name of the Temple of Syrinx? Why choose the word syrinx?

i'ts 2062, it's greek, it sounded good!

The Canadian rock band Rush wrote "The Temples of Syrinx", part of their twenty-minute epic track, 2112. The name is ironic because the Priests of the Temples in the dystopian society depicted in the lyrics are opposed to music and advocate the destruction of musical instruments. Rush also makes references to computers inside "The Temples of Syrinx" in their song "2112".

Although the premise may seem ironic, Neil Peart, who titled the track and wrote the lyrics understood the history of the dystopian society. Upon listening to the lyrics it becomes obvious that it is the anthem of one man's legacy to fight the priests at all costs and bring music to the people.

In the song "10001110101" by Clutch, The Temples of Syrinx is said to be 'having the bake sale of the year', probably in reference of Rush's 2112.

Novelist Samuel R. Delany features an instrument called a "sensory syrinx" (a sound, scent, and hologram projector) in his science-fiction novel Nova.

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  • 4 months later...

I saw the band 4 times! Sure beats popular cookie-cutters like The Backstreet Boys or InSync. I tried to hotlink to a site where you can read Rush lyrics (95% by Neil Peart), but it ended up saying the page wasn't found. So try typing the URL out at www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Venue/9123/lyrics.html .

Edited by Yitzhak Finnegan
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